It's always a little anxiety-inducing to see your words in print, but I'm actually really proud of this opinion piece in today's Scotsman. Thanks to Culture Counts for inviting me to share thoughts on the value of culture in our lives, places and communities, and about the importance of this week's Scottish Budget annoucements.
Full text below, and article available online via the Scotsman, too.
Scotland is at a crossroads, and decisions made next week will determine the path the country will take. The Scottish Budget makes a national statement about what kind of country we want Scotland to be, what kind of places we want to live in, and how we want to be seen by the world. The Scottish Government has promised to invest an additional £100m per year in Scotland’s culture sector by 2028/29, including an increase of £25 million next year. That investment represents a fraction of the total Budget spend, but would be transformative, not only for our theatres, galleries and museums, but for people, places and communities right across the country. It would mark an investment, as John Swinney said at a visit to Wardie Primary in Edinburgh to mark Book Week Scotland earlier this month, in “our cultural identity and our cultural experience”. What does that look like, in real terms?
For our high streets, it means empty shops being filled with artists - hosting open studios, pop-up galleries and workshops that invite everyone to roll up their sleeves and have a go. Creative Dundee’s Hapworks_00 project is developing a network of creative spaces as a solution to the lack of space limiting the growth of Dundee’s creative sector, and to the proliferation of vacant and neglected retail spaces. Their project occupies and animates - transforming empty units into vibrant, collaborative, creative spaces.
A thriving culture sector offers us all a means to actively shape the places we live, inviting us to become active participants in our cultural and civic lives. In Stranraer, The Stove Network and Creative Stranraer are working with Dumfries and Galloway Council to invite their local communities to rethink the town’s waterfront spaces. It’s part of major regeneration following the ending of the ferry service to Belfast in 2011. At a time when we read so often about communities defined by division, suspicion and conflict, the people of Stranraer are tackling knotty discussions, together, about what their town should and could be.
Whether we live in the centre of Glasgow, a small rural town or on one of Scotland’s many islands, the cultural sector gives us a means to explore the stories that have shaped our heritage, and that inform who we might become. Scotland’s many community festivals, museums and events celebrate life in all of its glorious diversity. These include OH!CON on the Isle of Lewis, an annual celebration of comics, science fiction, fantasy, film, animation, gaming, prop making and cosplay. Cultural events attract local, national and international visitors to Scotland, and create retail, hospitality and tourism jobs across the country. Bolstered by regional centres of creative expertise, such as the games sector in Dundee and crafts and textiles in the Highlands and Islands, our creative industries contribute more than £5 billion to the Scottish economy every year, supporting more than 70,000 jobs. And on the world stage, our cultural events bring profile to Scotland and build our international reputation as a country to live in, visit, invest in and do business with.
And the arts help us find moments of joy and connection through life’s challenges, as well as making an important contribution to people’s health and wellbeing. The Dance for Parkinson’s programme, led by Dance Base and Scottish Ballet, brings movement, exercise - and just as importantly, laughter, conversations, and many cups of tea - to people living with Parkinson’s and their partners, carers and families. Whilst arts and culture isn’t a panacea, and certainly isn’t a substitute for robust investment in the NHS and social services provision, we know that a well funded culture sector can make Scotland both richer and enriching. A 2023 study from University College London identified clear roles for the arts in preventing physical and mental health conditions, promoting good health, and helping to manage and treat illness.
Scotland’s culture sector does all these things, and more, despite decades of standstill funding. Amongst Europe, the UK ranks among the lowest spenders on culture, spending around 0.5% of GDP on culture. That compares to an EU average of 1.5%, ranking Scotland close to the bottom of European nations in terms of spend on culture as a percentage of government expenditure. Our cultural output and reputation reflects the ingenuity and determination of artists and arts organisations, but comes at its own price. Real-terms cuts across almost the whole of the sector have seen artists and organisations having to make impossible decisions as they juggle rising operational, creative and delivery costs. Without the Scottish Government’s promised investment in culture in next week’s Budget, the sector has warned of a ‘cliff edge’. For many, that would mean the closure of local and national organisations that celebrate the richness and diversity of Scottish communities. It would force an end to initiatives that celebrate the creativity in everyone, from the tiniest children to residents of care homes and hospitals. And it would signify a vision for Scotland that is less ambitious, joyful, outward-looking and diverse.
The #InvestInCulture campaign, launched last week by a network of culture, heritage and arts organisations, calls on the Scottish Government to follow through on their commitment to long-term sustainable funding for the arts. John Swinney’s comments this week, and the Scottish Government’s funding commitment for culture, recognises that a comparatively small investment in the Scottish cultural sector represents an investment in all of us - in our people, our places, and our communities. When Finance Secretary Shona Robison announces the Scottish budget next week, she’ll be setting out a vision for the kind of Scotland we are, the kind of place we want to be. Investment in our cultural lives - a relatively tiny part of the overall Budget commitment - will pay dividends in building a richer, more vibrant and forward-looking vision for Scotland.